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The Citizens ReportA publication of the Brighton Heights Citizen’s Federation
Volume 40Issue 4 sept/oCt 2010
ISSUE CONTENTSpresident’s messageupcoming eventspast eventsmeeting minutesRavenstahlHarrisComplaint Formmembership App
UPCOMING EVENTS9/6 labor Day picnic9/9 BHCF meeting9/18 AlCosAN event10/30 Halloween parade11/11 BHCF meeeting
Do You Have aNew Neighbor?If so, let us know and we’ll add them for one year as a free “New Resident.”
And if you’d like to write something about Brighton Heights, please feel free to send your article to:
BHCF NewsletterBox 99696pittsburgh, pA 15233
or e-mail it to Ron lindow:[email protected]
please include “Brighton Heights” in the subject line.
President’s Message by Pete Bellisario
What you Can Do About Juvenile Crime; A Walking Club; Open House and MoreHere we are nearing the fall season and enjoying the warm summer months. there are many articles in this newsletter that tell you of events from the recent past and those to be held in the future.
I don’t want to steal anybody else’s thunder but I feel must comment on several. The first subject is important because your neighbors decided to do something. We held a National Night out as an accompanying article discusses. the purpose of this event is to build community and help us help each other. our neighbors that live on or off of Brighton Road that surround legion park are having issues with minor chil-dren acting out. the children are mostly under 13 years old and are roaming these streets and walking on people’s property. they also approach cars that are sitting at the traffic light on the corner of Brighton and Benton. There have been thefts from unlocked vehicles. We have had other occurrences like this the past. Please lock your vehicles and continue to walk your dogs because they bark for a reason. We must do whatever we can to help each other. please call 911 if these children are causing a scene and give them a description, or better yet take pictures. Besides the 911 call, you can call 311 or email that office at: Wendy Urbanic [email protected]; these kids have dispersed in the past when a neighbor uses a cell phone or camera to take pictures. Donna Kramer is starting up a block watch program for our neighbors. The first meeting was held at the Lynn Williams high rise on August 11th. It will be an ongoing program.
Are you a walker? Would you like to join neighbors in a fun walk? There is a group of walkers who have been meeting for over a year at the Woods Run library on Mondays at 9:30 AM. We walk about two miles throughout Brightwood to Riverview park or to the Beaver Avenue area, for example. Come join us. AARp, in cooperation with the library, provides T-shirts and pedometers to encourage fitness. There are no fees and you even get a treat after the walk.
Please also read the flyer on the annual ALCOSAN Open House on September 18th. there are many entertaining activities and learning experiences for the kids. Adults would enjoy the tour. of course all will enjoy the great lunch they put on for the visi-tors. the open House is well attended and is worth your time to spend a couple of hours on a fall saturday.
Halloween parade will be held on october 30th. As always we solicit volunteers to help on that saturday. In particular we need three volunteers to judge the best original costumes.
Next meeting will be september 9th, then November 11th, Veterans Day.
George LichauerGeorge lichauer, a longtime Brighton Heights resident, past member of our Board of Directors and Commander of the American legion post #681 in our neighborhood, passed away on August 20th. He was 82 years old.
George and his wife Flora were loyal volunteers at the VA Hospital on Highland Drive for many years. George was a leader in setting up our memorial Day celebration in legion park every year. He would arrange the food, the speakers, the program and coordinate it with the City. We will miss him.
Brighton Heights Citizens Federation Info Quick List
Answer line (412) 734-0233
Website www.brightonheights.org
e-mail: [email protected]
Building permits (412) 255-2175(Bureau of Building Inspection)
City Council Office (412) 255-2136
City Council Representative (412) 255-2135
Mayor’s Office (412) 255-2626
Report a burned-out street light (412) 255-5483(24/7) If you can, provide address, side of street,and sl# on pole.
Alcosan (odor Control Hotline) (412) 766-9445
organized Crime, Narcotics and Intelligence Division (oNI) (412) 665-4300
pittsburgh school police (412) 622-3520
police, Zone one station (412) 323-7201
mayor’s Response line 311Non-emergency services and government info. mon-Fri 8 am - 4:30 pmAlternate #: 255-2621
police, Fire, Ambulance, emergencies 911
This newsletter is printed for us by Allegheny General Hospital and we appreciate their generosity!
Community-Wide Labor Day Picnicemmanuel Christian Church is sponsoring a labor Day picnic.place: emmanuel Christian Church1427 Davis Avenue, Brighton HeightsDate: monday, september 6, 2010time: 1 pm to 7 pmKids Activities: 1 pm to 4 pmDinner served: 5:30 pmFun for all ages and plenty of food provided by the church.
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ents
The Allegheny County Health Department and The Pennsylvania Resources Council are partnering to
provide free curbside pickup anddisposal of freon containing appliances.
This Limited Time Offer of free curbside pickup of Freon
containing appliances includes refrigerators, air conditioners, dehumidifiers, water coolers, and freezers.
No commercial appliances please.
To schedule your free pickup call the Appliance Warehouse at
1-888-GO-Freon (1-888-463-7366)
The AAAlleeghhenyyyy CCCounty Healtht DDepaartmmmmmment and Thhe
Attention Allegheny County
Residents!!
2010 Hard to Recycle Collection Event
Tires, E-waste, Useable Building Materials, Medical Supplies, Cell Phones, Alkaline Batteries, CFLs & Printer/Toner Cartridges
PARTICIPANT FEES:
E-waste: Home Phones, Modems $3 Mice & Keyboards $1 Small Printers/Scanners/Faxes $5 VHS/DVD/Small UPS/Routers $5 Stereos/Small Appliances $5
Televisions and Monitors: 15” & under $10 19” & under $15 20” - 39” $25 40” or more $50 Console TVs $50
Tires, no rims $2 each
FREE of Charge: CPU Towers & Laptops CFL’S/ Ink & Toner Cartridges Alkaline Batteries/Cell phones
At the City of Pittsburgh’s environmentAl serviCes fACility
Saturday September 25th 2010 10Am to 2Pm
3001 RailRoad stReet (stRip distRict) 15201
FREE OF CHARGE: Collected for Reuse
Medical supplies (Crutches, wheelchairs, nebulizers) **No Medications Please!!** Visit globallinks.org for a larger list of accepted items
Useable building material (Light fixtures, doors, windows) **NO open bags of cement products, broken bricks or lumber with nails** Visit constructionjunction.org for other accepted items
For questions, directions, or a detailed list of fees visit www.prc.org or call PRC at
(412) 488-7490 ext.236!
Brighton Heights Citizens FederationsAnnual Halloween Parade/Costume Contestsaturday, october 30thRegistration: 11:30 am to 12:30 p.m.(Registration ends at 12:30 sharp)Kunsak’s Funeral Home parking lot (Davis and massachusetts Avenues)parade will begin promptly at 1:00
The Summer Reading Program at the Woods Run Library was a huge success!!
Registrations totaled 661 participants!523 kids read 2648 books54 teens read 172 books 84 adults read 243
On Saturday, August 14, CLP - Woods Run celebrated the end of summer Reading Club with a party! Activities included a performance by magician tJ Hill, face painting and temporary tattoos, a craft ta-ble, button making station, beach volleyball and eating lots and lots of food! CLP - Woods Run won a promotion through ACLA to have moe’s southwest Grill provide free nachos and tacos during the event, and through the generosity of local businesses, there were also ice cream cones, pizza and orange drink on hand. Cheryl Capezzuti from studio Capezzuti attended dressed in a towering water goddess pup-pet. the party was a well-deserved reward for all of the hard work our kids did this summer!
thank you to all readers!!
Remember: Kids who read over the summer are more likely to read at grade level when they return to school!! And if you missed sum-mer reading, be on the lookout for the Winter Read-A-Thon coming in January!!
National Night OutIn cooperation with Denise Botti and the residents of the Lynn Williams Apartment Building, the Federation participated in the National Night out celebration on tuesday, August 3rd. Jill mcGlothlin coordinated the Federa-tion participation along with Board member Autumn Keller.
Jill was the official photographer for the evening, as well as assisting Denise in planning, promoting, designing/distributing flyers, shopping for snacks/children’s prizes at the target store on mcKnight Road and donating sev-eral new hula hoops which were given away to participants. target gave the event a $300 grant to spend for the festivities, and provided sidewalk chalk and other items. Cheryl Capezzuti provided two of her larger-than-life puppets, manned by larry Crouser and John Bratton. Donna Kramer donated a Bubblegum Bear from Build-A-Bear which was raffled off at the
end of the evening. Volunteers Mimi Perez and Eileen Jones (Lynn Williams’ residents) and sara-lynn snyder, Guy Amato and Anna mary lubbert (lynn Williams’ staff members) were integral to the event’s success.
ellen maddock from the steel City Hoop union demonstrated Hula-Hoop-ing, and Renee tokar and maria elena perez, owners of the muddy Cup in Bellevue provided flavored lemonades for $1. We had visits from police officers Hodges and Roberts from Zone One Police Station, Sparky the Fire Dog, the great firemen from the Orchlee and Woods Run firehouses and state Representative Adam Ravenstahl. A much needed rain shower did not dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd, but just moved the activities into the apartment social room. We plan to participate in the event again next year, perhaps moving the activities to legion park.
2010 Brighton Heights Flea MarketAfter a rainy day cancelled the original Flea market in legion park on sat-urday, June 5th, a new event was scheduled for saturday, July 24th. many participants were able to sell their treasures that day, even though it was one of the hottest days of the summer.
Chairpersons Becky spevack and Carrie Richards are already planning the next Flea market in the park, and we will be advertising it to you when the day is scheduled. early June 2011 is on the radar, so plan to come, buy or sell then!
Fifty-Nine Flower Planting Volunteers May 15, 2010As you read this, we will be getting ready to dismantle the gardens for the winter, pulling up the flowers before the frost sets in. As the years go on, more and more perennials are providing a backdrop for the annuals. these have also cut down on the number of flowers we must buy each year thanks to the design and planning of our own master Gardener susan Benn. Hope-fully you have had a chance to enjoy the beautiful display of color over the summer.
Almost 60 volunteers helped plant dozens and dozens of flowers on the three-corner gardens at the intersection of California and ter-mon Avenues. part of the group took care of the area in front of the Grenada street wall coming up Brighton Heights Boulevard.
perennials were divided and spread around, weeds were pulled, and even
trash was picked up. While the flower planting was essential to the dis-play, spreading one and a half truckloads of mulch took lots of patience and muscle.
Art Kreisel and his team repaired the sprinkler system on the City Green-up lot. It was inspirational to see the sprinklers turn on at the end of the morning and water the newly planted flowers on that corner.
In addition to individual workers, several groups were well represented. The Academy once again sent five students along with a driver. Emmanuel Christian Church parishioners were well represented and the st Cyril sev-enth grade class showed up in force, along with many of their parents and siblings. paul Kelly provided much needed and extremely appreciated wa-ter, ice and soft drinks for the workers. Do thank him, and thank the following people if you see them – they worked hard all morning!
John BelchJoan Bellisariopete BellisarioJudy Bendtsensusan Benntrinity BowcerKahejah CammonDominique Clarkmandy CollinsValerie Couch
melonie Deneuetom Fodied GergerichDasha HarrisonBob HartmanChris Hartmanlois Hartmansue HartmanJan HeldNatalie Heywood
Gwen Jacksonterri JacksonChris JusticeJesse Justicesean Justicetrevor Justicetom KaylorCathy Kernantim Kernantiara Kearns
Autumn KellerCollin KellerAndrew KocayHelene KocayJoe KocayArt KreiselIvan lambertjHelen lorincCaitlin lowryKelly lowry
Jake matschnerJohn matschnerAlexis mooreCarol NymanNick NymanBev olivered oliverDanny onoratoshelly onoratoDeb orr
Julie partridgeerica DeAngelis pipitoneJaraya porterJonathan shegogJessica taylorNick tunstallpeggy urzuaShaglinda WilliamsBrooke Zangaro
The 2010 Brighton Heights Chocolate House Tour......was a rousing success. At least 650 people walked through the neighbor-hood to see the eleven beautiful houses on the tour. the weather could not have been better, and a flattering article by Pat Lowry in the Post Gazette the day before the tour brought people from all over the city. We were so busy that we almost used up all of the printed tour booklets before 2 pm. But we were able to recycle a number of books, so we never ran out.
It was unequivocally the most successful house tour we have had so far. Jeff Worsinger once again led the house tour committee which consisted of Ray Meyer (our most aggressive house finder and ad getter), Jesse Belfast (our resident historian), Judy Bendtsen and peggy urzua (doing a myriad of necessary jobs) and Joan Bellisario (keeping the finances in order.)
the day before the tour, eleven volunteers cleaned up the streets of the tour for our visitors the next day: John Belch, Judy Bendtsen, pete & Joan Bellisario, tom Fodi, Bob Hartman, tom Kaylor, Ray meyer and peggy urzua. the volunteers on the day of the tour were too numerous to mention:
helpers in each of the houses, guides on the street corners, and rotating shifts manning the registration table and selling Fun Run t-shirts. they also sold Pirate raffle tickets for the Northside Leadership Conference Pirate Box raffle. The winner of the Pirate tickets was our good friend and neighbor Ed Brandt.
The winner of the House Tour raffle was Chris Stehle. Our resident artist Dan Riegner had graciously volunteered to donate a pen and ink sketch of the winner’s house. He was happy, because he likes to take his own pic-tures for his drawings, and Chris lives close to our neighborhood in Ross. A beautiful home rendition has been presented to Chris, and Dan has already volunteered to donate his talents again next year!
It was a busy, exhausting day. But the participants were cheerful at the end-of-the-day party for the hosts and workers at the malanos house. our thanks to all the workers and especially to all of you who took time to come on the tour.
Past
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Summer Flower GardensThe Saint Cyril eighth-grade class has been weeding and watering the flower gardens on the corner of Termon and California Avenues throughout the summer. It is a big job and we appreciate their efforts. We have had another church group, affiliated with Hosanna Church, who worked for a couple hours on the Grenada Wall pulling weeds on August 10th. They were mostly high school kids from Living Hope Church in Latrobe and Word of Worship in North Braddock. We appreciate their help and want to thank:leader Chris DaughertyKatie Daugherty sarah Daugherty
mckenzie HammVickie larsonmarie lotto
Jordan malloyJoel malloylexi paladin
Jacob RoseHayes salancy Naoh salancy
Annie tucciDaniel tucciemilie tucci
Jessie tucciTaylor WestKariena Whatule
We will be getting the gardens ready for winter in Oct. and will announce the date at the Sept. General Membership Meeting. Come join in the fun!
Minutes of the BHCF General Membership Meeting of May 13, 2010Called to order at 7:05 pmpledge of AllegianceAttendance: approximately 60previous minutes approved with no corrections.
Report of Officers:
Pete Bellisario, President:City of pittsburgh public schools: North side neighborhoods have formed a committee with the North side leadership Conference (NSLC) to figure out what is happening. The committee has been able to achieve “moth ball” status of Arthur Rooney middle school. We are still unsure what the final outcome will be of the committee, but are hoping to be able to present the North side’s needs in a formed manner. the committee meets once a month, taking the res-idents’ concerns into consideration. Hoping for a K-8 in the neigh-borhood, wanting stability. there are members of the BHCF board as well as local residents sitting on this committee. members of the school board have already approached this committee regarding their thoughts on what can or should be done to move forward.
monument fund: there have been various donations for the three monuments in legion park and the Board has recently decided that those donations will go toward whatever repairs are needed as they are needed.
Treasurer’s Report, Joan Bellisario:Account Balances:Bank CD: $0.00Housing Account: $0.00monument Account: $1717.92operating Account: $20,237.10state Grant Account: $905.10United Way Account: $3149.21total: $26,009.33
treasurer’s Report approved by the membership.
Crime & Safety Report – Pete reporting in place of Donna Kramertom Friday’s was burglarized in April. they cut the power and short-circuited the camera system. this has been repaired. Zone 1 has identified a suspect, and they are moving forward to make an ar-rest.
A shooting took place on Saint Ives. Word on the street is that drugs were involved; it was a drive-by.
Portal Project – Susan Benn:there will be trees planted along Brighton Road and subsidiary roads off Brighton. they will be provided free of charge.
Last year Emmanuel Christian Church helped take care of the flower beds. this year saint Cyril’s 7th graders will be doing this.
3701 California Avenue: new house built, operated by City of pitts-burgh. ADA compliant house.
House Tour – Jeff Worsinger:may 23rd, 12 to 5 pm. $12/prepay, $15/day of. Volunteers needed; volunteers are allowed to go on the tour for free and are invited to
the wrap-up party. eleven homes. emmanuel Christian will be host-ing (that’s where it starts.)
Clean up of route the day before, 9 Am, meet at emmanuel Chris-tian.
Flea Market – Becky Spevack:saturday, June 5th, 9 Am to 2 pm, $10 per space. Kids tents and food provided by emmanuel Christian Church. live music.
New Business:Thanks to Kevin Quigley and Public Works for efforts picking up trash recently.
Old Business:may 31st – memorial Day service at legion park, with an airplane flyover. Christ Hope Church will have picnic food for lunch. Em-manuel Christian Church will also be having an evening picnic with foods, games, et cetera.
Adjournment: meeting adjourned 7:27 pm.
meeting followed by meet the Candidates Forum for the House of Representatives District 20.
Mee
ting
Min
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the opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the membership or the:
BHCF Board of Directors
Officerspresident pete BellisarioVice presidenttreasurer Joan BellisarioCorresponding secretaryJessica mooneyRecording secretary Becky spevack
DirectorsJohn Belchsusan BennKelly DayJanice Johns englemanBill Goodrichtom KaylorAutumn KellerCathy KernanDonna KramerBeth lazzaraBill lazzaraRon lindowRay meyerJohn uribepeggy urzuaJeff Worsinger
Directors Emeritus Gert longHelen Wehner
Newsletter CommitteeIrene JakubowskiGert longtom KaylorJill mcGlothlinRon lindow, editor
Your Input on Pittsburgh’s Next Quarter Century
Mayor Luke RavenstahlDear Neighbors,Our City is about to embark on its first ever City of pittsburgh Comprehensive plan. this Comprehensive plan encompasses a host of issues, designed to work in concert with each other. this will allow us to initially
examine, in detail, how a plan for one area of the City would enhance or be detrimental to another area.
twelve components will be under consideration in the City’s Compre-hensive plan:
1. open space, parks and Recreation2. Cultural Heritage3. transportation4. public Art5. urban Design6. public Facilities and services
7. energy8. Infrastructure9. economic Development10. Housing11. education12. land use
A Comprehensive plan is created through a process that allows resi-dents to voice their opinions and make suggestions about how the City can grow gracefully over the next 25 years. this involves a process that will attract investment to the City and establish the most cost effective use of taxpayer dollars over those 25 years. the plan will help guide our elected officials, decision makers and residents to make Pittsburgh an even better place to live, work, learn, play and thrive.
to all of you who have access to the internet, I ask that you visit www.planpgh.com to learn about the framework of plANpGH and the open space, parks, and Recreation plan (opeN spACe pGH.) In the near future we will post the plANpGH exchange. By registering on the ex-change, residents will have the opportunity to complete various surveys and polls posted on the site. You may also review and comment on the drafts of plan components as they are available. there will be additional opportunities for public involvement with the Plan. Currently on site you can find the survey for another component just getting underway, PRE-seRVepGH, the Cultural Heritage plan. I encourage you to complete this survey. It will help us plan the City’s vision for historical and cultural resources.
We are also on Facebook and Twitter under PLANPGH, and will be updating our pages with announcements and meeting invitations, so look us up and become a fan of the plan! For more information or to get involved, please visit www.pghplan.com
Civic Leadership AcademyMayor Luke RavenstahlAs one of my top priorities for the City of pittsburgh, I have worked to reform government through transparency and civic involvement. I believe that residents of the City of pittsburgh deserve to know and understand how the City functions, how it serves their community and how they can work with local government to make their neighborhood a better place to live and work.
too many times information on how City Departments function is relayed by word of mouth from one City resident to another. As a result, in many instances, it is often inaccurate or misinterpreted. In an effort to provide our residents the opportunity to accurately understand the workings of our City government I am pleased to announce the formation of the first-ever Civic Leadership Academy in the City of Pittsburgh.
the Civic leadership Academy is a free, 10-week course about local government in the City of pittsburgh. It includes tours, hands-on dem-onstrations and fun activities that give an up-close and personal view of how the City is operated and governed. In each two-hour class, partici-pants will learn about a different City department and the services that it provides to make for a safer, more livable City.
As announced in my press release on July 12th, the deadline for ap-plication to the Academy was July 30, 2010. twenty residents and busi-ness owners from neighborhoods throughout the City will be chosen to participate in the academy. The first full 10-week session will begin on september 14th and continue through November 16, 2010.
We hope that at the end of the course participants will be able to share with you information that they learned at your community meetings. If you missed this announcement, please be alerted that future 10-week sessions will continue as community interest grows.
If you have any questions, please contact the Mayor’s Office of Neigh-borhood Initiatives at 412-255-4773 or send an e-mail to [email protected]
Help Available for Uninsured Adults with Pre-existing Conditions
Adam RavenstahlPennsylvania House of Representatives, 20th District
pennsylvania’s health plan for uninsured adults with pre-existing medi-cal conditions, pA Fair Care, is now taking applications.
Benefits will include preventive care, physician services, diagnostic testing, hospitalization, mental health services and prescriptions. the cost to enrollees is a subsidized premium of $283.20 a month.
to be eligible for pA Fair Care, an applicant must:• Be a U.S. citizen or lawful resident• Be a Pennsylvania resident• Have a pre-existing health condition• Be uninsured for the previous six months
the program has initial funding to serve about 3500 people. eligible applicants will be enrolled on a first-come basis.
Applications can be completed online at www.pafaircare.com. those without Internet access may apply with assistance from the toll-free helpline at 1-888-767-7015 (ttY 1-888-767-7018) from 8:30 to 4:30 monday to Friday.
As always, please contact me if I can be of assistance with any state-related issue.
***Adam Ravenstahl’s website is http://www.pahouse.com/ravenstahl
Rave
nsta
hl
Post No Bills!
Darlene Harris, President, City Council of Pittsburgh
our neighborhoods are being bombarded with unsolicited, illegal signs touting how you can sell your junk cars or your house for cash, buy new windows for your home and more. this will not be tolerated in the city. Read the law as it’s written:
§ 601.01 POSTING SIGNS WITHOUT CONSENT; EXCEPTIONS.
(a) No person shall paste, paint, stamp or in any manner place, af-fix or attach to any building, fence, bridge, gate or any other public or private property any written, printed or painted advertisement, bill, notice, sign, card or poster, without first obtaining the written consent of the owner or other person lawfully in charge or control of property. this section does not prevent the posting of any notice required or permitted to be posted by law or order of court.
(ordinance 16-1993, effective 28 June 1993; ordinance 15-2008, ef-fective 19 August 2008)
these signs are obstructive to distract drivers. the Department of Public Works...
• Authorizes sign postings
• Fines those who illegally post signs
• Removes signs
• Authorizes others to pull the signs down
signs encouraging you to sell your home to them for cash particularly offend. please, if you plan to put your home on the market, use a reputable real estate service or contact your community organization for help, but don’t sell your home to those who post these signs.
often the people who post these signs have no connection with our neighborhoods. they don’t plan to move here and improve the property. they plan minimal upkeep, if any, and what was once your prized home becomes rental property for people who won’t care for the house. It pulls down our property values. they say they are doing you and the City a service by taking your home off your hands quickly, but often you would gain more money selling your home through repu-table channels.
many times, those who post these signs live in the suburbs and feel our neighborhoods are not as good as theirs. It’s an affront to us. these people feel buying our houses is a get-rich-quick scheme. they target our City’s stressed, older neighborhoods, where homes may sell slower or where the owners may be going through financial dif-ficulties. These less than ethical people swoop in like vultures on prey. We are fine, upstanding people, not prey.
I am authorizing you to pull these signs off the telephone poles in your neighborhood. please note the location where you found the sign and let us know. You can give the sign to your community leaders or we’ll pick it up. We cannot tolerate this type of landlord in our district. Let’s work together to keep them out.
What Puts the “Care” in Animal Care and Control
Darlene Harris, President, City Council of Pittsburgh
When many City of Pittsburgh residents think of Animal Care and Con-trol (ACC), they think of the old term “dog catchers.” Dogs, and cats too, are frequently picked up and returned to their owners, thanks to City pet licenses affixed to the animals’ collars. However, the ACC resolves more wildlife concerns from residents than those about do-mestic animals.
there’s lots of wildlife in pittsburgh and we are fortunate to have such a variety. some live in one neighborhood more than others, like skunks, 99 percent of which you can find in the West End. Most coyotes live in Brighton Heights and Riverview park, so keep your pets protected. Don’t let them run free anywhere other than in the off leash exercise Areas. Deer live in every City neighborhood, along with black, grey and red squirrels, bats, raccoons, groundhogs, turkeys, pheasants, snakes, rabbits and foxes.
sometimes, smaller animals accidently get into homes and most peo-ple, rightly so, are afraid. Generally, these animals are more scared of us than we are of them. In cases like this, call ACC and they will re-solve the issue. The ACC leaves the deer and turkeys to find their way back to their herds and flocks, unless injured or threatened with injury. Rarely are pittsburghers bitten by wildlife. But when it does happen, call ACC so that they can capture the animal and immediately test it for the rabies virus. Vacant buildings and houses usually attract wildlife including bats, raccoons and groundhogs. these buildings become breeding grounds and, when ACC is called, it’s the responsibility of the building owner to come to the property along with ACC to resolve the issues.
Feral cats can be a project! Born in the wild, feral cats have little, if any, human contact. most often they don’t like being approached by people. they hiss and growl in self-defense or just from fear. some of these cats can be domesticated. most importantly, they need to be spayed or neutered so no more feral cats are bred.
ACC loans humane traps, with a deposit, for up to 14 days. these traps can be used for feral cats or other small animals. Captured wild-life is often relocated to other areas, but skunks, raccoons, ground-hogs, bats and foxes are euthanized by the ACC. By law, the Game Commission does not allow the ACC to relocate or release these ani-mals because they are considered to be a high risk for the rabies virus. ACC’s euthanizing method is very humane, approved and overseen by a licensed veterinarian.
Healthy dogs and cats are not euthanized. All domestic animals are taken to the Animal Rescue league for veterinarian care and put up for adoption.
If you have any concerns about any domestic animals or wildlife, call Animal Care and Control at 412-255-2036
Har
ris
UNITED WAY #188Did you now that the Brighton Heights Citizens Federation is a United Way agency? You can make a donation to the Federa-tion by choosing # 188 on your donation form. All United Way donations are used exclusively for our children’s activities such as the Halloween parade. For the past few years, the donations have not covered the costs involved for these activities. Any member making a United Way donation receives a one year extension on their membership. usually the paperwork does not catch up with us until the year following the donation.
Complaint FormsMany of you have used the complaint forms to bring neighborhood issues to our attention. This is very helpful, and we appreciate your concern. We are all part of the eyes and ears of Brighton Heights, and an up-front, early addressing of a problem by those closest to it is often a great help. Also, a subject is obviously more important when we have a number of complaints for the same issue.
Although you do not have to identify yourself on a complaint form, it is sometimes difficult for us to follow up on issues and get clarification when we have no contact information for you. We will not share your identity with anyone else, especially not the subject of your complaint, so you needn’t worry about that.
At times, when we follow up on the complaint, it is not readily apparent to the casual eye, so we can’t even let you know that we are working on the problem or share the response from responsible City or County officials without some contact information for you.
If you still feel uncomfortable sharing your identification, proceed as before, and we will try to address it to the best of our means. If you have access to a computer, the following email address goes directly to the mayor’s 311 department: [email protected]
Com
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Brighton Heights Citizens FederationPO Box 99696 • Pittsburgh, PA • Phone/Fax: 412-734-0233
NEIGHBORHOOD COMPLAINT FORMYou may call the Mayor’s Service Center at 412-255-2621 to report a problem you see in your neighborhood. You may also provide the Public Service Committee with this information by using this form. The Public Ser-vice Committee will send your complaint to the Mayor’s Service Center on your behalf, or in addition to your complaint. You may drop this form off at the General Membership Meeting, or send it to the above address.
Address of problem location
Name of Property owner (if known)
Please circle one or more
Health Concern
Safety Concern
Eyesore (Graffiti, etc.)
Other
Details:
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
How long has this problem persisted?
Has this problem been previously reported to the Mayor’s service
Center, a specific city department or any other agency?
o Yes o No
If “Yes,” which department? When? How frequently?
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________You may submit
this form anonymously,
or if you want a response from
the Public Service Committee about your
complaint, please fill in this box.
Name ________________________________________________
Address ______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
Phone Numbers: Day _______________ Evening ______________
E-mail address (optional) __________________________________
Des
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Nonprofic Organizationus postage
pAID pittsburgh, pApermit #2804
Next General Membership Meeting September 9th, 7:00 pm Brighton McClure Presbyterian Church, Corner of Brighton and Benton
Brighton Heights Citizens FederationBox 99696 • Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Brighton Heights Citizens Federation Membership Application
Name______________________________________________ Date_______________________________
Address_______________________________________________________________________________
City and state___________________________________________ Zip Code________________________
phone_____________________________ e-mail______________________________________________
Is this a new membership or renewal?________________________________________________________
Circle type of annual membership: Family ($7.50) Individual ($5) Individual over 65 ($3) social/Non-resident ($2) Corporate/Group ($10)
please make check payable to “BHCF, Inc.” and send to: BHCF treasurer, Box 99696, pittsburgh, pA 15233 please don’t send cash. thank you!!
Your cancelled check will be your receipt. Your membership renewal date will be reflected on your mailing label. For example, “12/10” means your membership expires in December 2010M
embe
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